Do you still need test management in an agile project? Is a test manager necessary in agile testing? I get asked these questions again and again. My answer is quite clear: it depends. It depends on which tasks you need from this role in the team and consider to be helpful. And who can take on these tasks in the team.
The ISTQB defines the test manager as “The person responsible for the project management of test activities and test resources and for the evaluation of a test object.”
In a professional project environment - whether traditional or agile - there are quality assurance tasks. In the traditional approach, a test manager with a focus on test planning and control fulfills many of these tasks. In an agile team, everyone is responsible for quality. These tasks also exist here, although not necessarily in the person of the test manager.
Sometimes, however, these tasks in agile projects accumulate with individuals. That’s okay as long as it doesn’t create knowledge silos. In my experience, a sensible distribution among several team members and a shared view of the activities is more optimal.
Agile test management tasks
What is it actually about? Here are a few examples of quality assurance tasks that the test manager would have taken on in a traditional project:
Release and iteration planning
- Estimation of test effort and feasibility (e.g. via Planning Poker)
- Grouping of content that is close to each other and therefore efficiently testable in one / a few releases or iterations
Structure/expansion of the product backlog, prioritization of backlog items
- Review of the backlog items for unambiguity, consistency, completeness and especially testability
- View from the customer and end user perspective
- Are there acceptance criteria that are formulated clearly, unambiguously and without contradictions? Important: Are these verifiable (and, if relevant for the test, testable)?
- When estimating the effort involved, the test manager role can ensure that test aspects are also taken into account here.
Setting up the development environment for development, continuous integration, testing and pre-production
- Setting up the process for continuous integration (with testing)
- Integration of the test stages from unit tests (for test-driven design) to system and acceptance tests, as well as the transparent presentation of their results in reports, dashboards, etc.
- Definition of the process from test to pre-production
Selection / definition of the development procedure
Forming a team / finalizing the team structure
- Ensuring that experienced testers and test management expertise are on board
- Ensure and, if necessary, expand test expertise in the team
- Define collaboration - how does collaboration between development and testing work? Are there separate developer tasks and tester tasks? Or does testing always come automatically after development?
- Is it transparent when development is finished and when testing can begin?
- How do testers organize their own tester tasks? Do you use the same task board as the team or your own?
- Determine how defects are communicated (taskboard/tool)
Definition of the working environment
- Provide test rooms and equipment
- Organize test environment
Tool selection
- Proof of concept of tools
- Create procedure/concept for test automation at system and acceptance test level
- Define the test management
Automation
- Push automation of unit, integration and acceptance tests
- Ensure that test automation framework is available and usable
Joint development of the Definition of Done
- Focus on quality, testability and measurability
- Are predefined framework conditions covered in DoD (e.g. legal regulations)?
In agile software development, many of these tasks are already covered by developers, product owners, scrum masters or other roles. For the others, it is up to the team to decide whether and who should take on these tasks. How this can look in detail is described in my book “Agile Testing - The agile path to quality”.
Is the test manager now unemployed?
All tasks are now distributed within the team. Is the test manager now obsolete? Quite the opposite! Their knowledge and experience are invaluable. When your own company switches to agile software development, the legitimate question arises: What happens now as a test manager? In recent years, I have coached many test managers who were faced with this question. Some of them have gone into agile projects as testers and have driven testing activities forward there. I have accompanied others on their way to becoming agile quality coaches. They have created a new understanding of their role and now support projects within the company. There they support developers and other team members:
- How you can integrate quality tasks into your daily routine
- They serve as sparring partners for software testing and quality issues
- How quality is established as an attitude in the team
- You provide support with infrastructure, test data and test strategy
- …
The future of the test manager
The need for precisely tailored software tests is increasing due to the interaction and complexity of systems. The knowledge of today’s test managers is indispensable and will become even more important in the future. What can efficient tests look like? Which tests have which priority? In my opinion, the classic image of the test manager has had its day. We won’t often find managers who write hundreds of pages of test concepts and spend the whole day poring over Gantt charts. What does the agile test manager look like? He is a team companion who uses his know-how to accompany development and test teams and enables them to find their agile quality path.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who takes on the tasks in an agile team that used to be the responsibility of the test manager?
In an agile team, everyone is responsible for quality. Many of the traditional test management tasks are already handled by developers, product owners, or Scrum Masters; for the remaining tasks, the team decides who will take them on. If these tasks accumulate with individual team members, that’s acceptable as long as it doesn’t create knowledge silos. Experience shows that distributing them among several team members who share a common view of the activities works better.
How does testing expertise contribute to release and iteration planning?
Testing expertise helps in two ways: estimating testing effort and feasibility—for example, using Planning Poker—and grouping related topics that can be tested efficiently together into one or a few releases or iterations. This perspective also ensures that testing aspects are taken into account at all when estimating the effort for individual backlog items.
What should you check for in backlog items from a testing perspective?
A review examines backlog items for clarity, consistency, completeness, and—most importantly—testability, from the perspective of the customer and end user. The acceptance criteria are crucial: they must be formulated clearly, unambiguously, and consistently, and above all, they must be verifiable. If an aspect is relevant to testing, the criterion must actually be testable.
What questions regarding collaboration between development and testing should a team clarify early on?
The team should determine whether there are separate tasks for developers and testers or whether testing automatically follows development. Equally important: Is it clear when development is complete and testing can begin? Another question is whether testers use the same task board as the rest of the team, and how defects are communicated—via the task board or a tool.
What quality-related aspects should be included in the Definition of Done?
The Definition of Done is developed collaboratively, with a focus on quality, testability, and measurability. Additionally, it’s important to verify whether specified requirements—such as legal regulations—are met. This makes the DoD the place where quality assurance requirements become binding, rather than being listed in a separate test plan.
What career paths are open to test managers when a company transitions to agile development?
The author has worked with numerous test managers who faced this question. Some joined agile projects as testers and drove testing activities there. Others evolved into Agile Quality Coaches: they support projects, show teams how quality tasks fit into their daily work, serve as sparring partners for testing questions, and provide assistance with infrastructure, test data, and test strategy.
Is test management expertise becoming less important due to agile work practices?
No. The 2021 article argued that the need for tailored software testing continues to grow due to the interaction and complexity of systems, making test managers’ expertise all the more important. The traditional role—the manager with hundreds of pages of test plans and Gantt charts—has had its day. Replacing it is a team facilitator who helps development and test teams find their own path to quality.
